"The lawsuit, filed in Manhattan federal court by the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division, alleges Apple and the publishers reached an agreement where retail price competition would cease, retail e-books prices would increase significantly and Apple would be guarantee a 30% 'commission' on each e-book sold."

"Apple and Macmillan haven't engaged in settlement talks with the Justice Department, Bloomberg reported. The companies have denied any wrongdoing and will argue that their agreement actually improved the competitive environment in the face of competition from Amazon and its own e-book business. ...

"The probe apparently stems from changes made to how publishers charge for e-books when Apple released the first iPad two years ago. Book publishers began using an 'agency model' in which publishers set their own e-book prices, rather than the traditional wholesale model in which publishers set a retail price and retailers set their own sales price."